


All That It Takes

by Destiny_in_the_Universe



Series: Let Me Hold You (and brighten your days) [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cats, Cat Tony Stark, First Meetings, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Iron Dad, Kitten Peter Parker, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tony Stark Has Nightmares, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 20:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19731364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiny_in_the_Universe/pseuds/Destiny_in_the_Universe
Summary: Tony is staying in a human apartment, still refusing contact, but a young kitten changes everything





	All That It Takes

Tony’s fur bristled as he backed up until he was finally cowered beneath the bed, his fangs showing at the sight of the human female. He swiped his claws forward, pleased to hear a sudden yelp. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the female muttered, suddenly sighing before her footsteps faded away. 

Tony purred and slowly slid back out, finding a nice, warm spot to curl up in. He flattened his ears against his head, and wrapped his tail around his legs, chest rising up and back down while he slept. 

The nightmares of his past plagued his dreams, the sounds of the dogs, the horrible light that filled his line of sight. He twitched and moved in his sleep, paws and legs kicking out, horrible hissing escaping his lips. 

Tony gave a sudden panicked yowl, his hackles raised, his tail lashing repeatedly behind him. The former stray growled, before he stalked out of the room, padding in the direction of where the dish with the tuna lay. 

He perked his ears upwards, tilting his head in a curious fashion when he picked up a new scent, one that he hadn’t realized was there before. The feline stretched his still scarred, mangy body, before he suddenly bristled and his ears went flat. 

“Who’s there?” Tony snapped, his nose wrinkling in distaste for a moment. 

He raised a paws, ready to strike, when he was suddenly met with... a cat? Tony’s claws sheathed again, and cocked his head to one side, not fully understanding what was going on. 

“Um— hi?” The other cat, who seemed young, merely a kitten by the looks of it, meowed. 

He was a fluffy brown, with white socks on his paws, and the softest chocolate brown eyes one had ever seen. There was an innocent air to him, and Tony quickly realized the kitten had a collar fastened around his neck. 

Tony’s tail swung in a mantra behind him, teeth bared before he it dawned on him. 

Wait a minute… 

The kitten from the window he’d seen darting past before the human female saw him. Now it made sense. 

“I’m Peter by the way!” The kitten explained, clearly close to a year by the looks of it, coming closer to take a look at Tony. He backed up out of nowhere when the older feline swiped at him. “Are you alright?” Peter asked, ears twitching. 

Tony didn’t move, and he kept glaring, before he finally retreated into a corner, refusing to move. 

“I’m fine, kid. Just go away,” he grunted, one leg reaching up to scratch against his back, his claws coming out and digging into the carpet because of the burst of pain. 

Peter didn’t get too close, keeping some distance between himself and the clearly wary stray, then sighed, doing a slow process of grooming himself. 

“Do you have a name?” Peter asked, in a half ramble. “I don’t think my owners would take you into the shelter.” 

Tony lashed his tail for a moment before finally answering. 

“Tony.” 

Peter lifted his ears, and let out a small purr, trying to make another step, but was met with hissing. 

“I’m— I’m not here to hurt you, Tony,” he said softly, respecting the older cat’s wishes about being left alone and didn’t attempt to move forward again. 

Tony didn’t answer for a moment, his brown eyes simply fixated on the ground. He hadn’t always been this distrusting, but ever since his torture, he refused to get close to anyone. 

“How did you get here?” Peter questioned. 

The older tom growled softly, debating whether to tell this pestering kitten what had happened to him. He moved to open his mouth, and speak about why he’d ended up a stray and how he was fed tuna, but something stopped him from doing so. 

Despite his trauma, he didn’t want to mention it in front of a kitten. Tony, oddly enough, wasn’t about to taint Peter for some reason even though he very well could’ve especially considering the nosy questions. 

“I was hurt,” Tony flattened his ears down, and took a deep breath. “I ended up in the streets and your... humans... found me.” He replied, beginning to tremble as a result of everything that he’d been through. 

Peter fell silent, not asking anything else. Even with his curiosities, he didn’t want to risk causing Tony to run off. 

“— I’m sorry.” 

Tony glanced up, a dry chuckle escaping his lips when he did so. He shook his head, and meowed, “don’t worry too much about it, kid.” 

The kitten flicked his tail, then slowly flashed a smile as best he could. 

“Are you okay with being here?” 

Before Peter could speak again, Tony snarled and felt his fur stand on end as he noticed the human female again. He darted forward, slipping beneath the couch, refusing to come back out. He didn’t want anything to do with humans, not after what they had done to him. 

“Here kitty, kitty,” the human female soothed, yet received no luck in trying to get Tony to come back out. 

“Tony?” Peter meowed gently, tail swaying as he moved beneath the couch as well, and kept some distance, the kitten coming to face Tony. “They just need to take you to the vet, see if you belong to anyone.” 

“I’m not going.” 

There was a finality in the tom’s words, the sense of agitation and panic forcing its way forward. Tony felt his paws shaking, and he backed up again when he heard the human female trying to coax him out. 

“She’s not going to hurt you.” 

Tony pressed himself down to the ground, his claws coming back out, eyes holding a sense of pure, raw anger and fear. He suddenly yowled and felt something warm hit his face, gasping and jerking backwards as he swiped at something, hearing a sudden yelp. 

“Tony!” Peter gasped. 

The older feline panted, realizing there was red trickling down his paw, tail swaying back and forth. He stared at it, almost as if trying to understand what had just happened. 

“You scratched her,” Peter meowed, giving Tony one quick look then left beneath the couch. 

Tony panted, as he slowly but surely crawled forward, ears coming back up. 

“Did I...” he meowed, tilting his head to one side in a nervous, agitated fashion. “Is she hurt too much?” He asked, curling his ears back down. 

Peter turned to Tony, before shaking his head. 

“No. She’ll be alright,” Peter replied then hesitated before asking again, “what happened to you?” 

Tony went silent, claws digging down. 

“I was hurt badly by humans.” He suddenly spoke, the male feline not knowing how to word this without giving a fright to Peter. Tony didn’t like bringing up his past, especially with the state it had left him in. 

“She wouldn’t hurt you. Not her. Just let her take you to the vet.” 

“What if I don’t come back out? I know what happens in those places.” 

Peter shuffled his paws for a brief moment before glancing back up, looking directly at Tony. 

“She wouldn’t do that to you. I know her,” he replied softly. “You’re safe.” 

Tony flattened his ears again, before he finally nodded. The cat glanced up at the human female before beginning to meow and brushed his tail ever so slightly against her. 

“Hey, you didn’t hurt me. Look, it’s okay.” The human female chuckled as she showed her hand and only showed a small scratch as a result. She reached towards Tony and smiled when she didn’t hear hissing, coming into brief contact against the cat’s head before pulling away. 

And maybe that’s all Tony really needed, the comfort he really wanted provided, a new start.


End file.
